Fireworks
by Microsuede Mouse
Summary: Gisela's felt fireworks, just once, but she won't tell Connor with whom. But no matter how hard he thinks about it, he keeps forgetting one possibility.


I don't know Connor Undercover backwards and forwards, so I'm not sure, but I think I listed everyone Gisela's canonically dated or liked in Connor's brief rant. If not, well... just pretend. :P Other than that, this should all stand on its own. Cheers.

* * *

Connor and Gisela had kissed a total of nine times.

Of course, it was never _real_. It had always been a cover, an alibi, a plan. Once it had just been to hide their faces and get people to look away. On even more occasions, they'd had to pretend to be a couple, for whatever reason, but it was the number of kisses that had been getting really ridiculous.

Especially considering the fact that last time, Connor had almost gotten really into it.

In his defense, it had had to be one hell of a kiss. The whole point, in fact, had been to make a spectacle of themselves. The enemy agents crawling all over the theme park expected the president's daughter and her bodyguard to be laying low, not making immense, attention-drawing, very public declarations of the heart outside of the Tunnel of Love. Connor had had to loudly announce that he just couldn't keep it all in any more – Gisela was truly the love of his life, the girl of his dreams, the apple of his eye; would she do him the honour of boarding a swan-shaped boat with him and becoming his girlfriend? To the delight of the crowd of couples also waiting to get into the ride, she threw her arms around his neck: yes, of course! She'd waited so long to hear him ask! They climbed into a boat and, to the cheers of the people gathered around, sank into one another with a dramatic kiss.

A few moments later, once they were alone inside the tunnel, surrounded by the romantic mood lighting and soft music, Gisela had pulled back from him and dropped her hands from his shoulders. "Well now," she'd said quietly. "That was really something."

"Yeah," Connor had answered. He had frowned slightly and cleared his throat, forcing his hands away from her waist. "Yeah, well, you know. Have to make it convincing."

Even a month after the fact, that particular adventure still weighed on Connor's mind. Why had it been so hard to pull away from her that day? He told himself that it was because he was dedicated to the job and the cover stories it might come with. Because he'd not yet confirmed that they were out of sight and out of danger. Because she was such a good kisser? Any excuse he could come up with was better than nothing.

And as he lay on the couch thinking about it, and trying not to think about it, Gisela herself came in the door, looking vaguely dissatisfied.

"How was your date with Alec?" Connor asked her.

She shrugged noncommittally as she dropped into an armchair. "The date was all right I guess. He kissed me though."

"Shouldn't you be excited about that or something?" Connor asked, cocking an eyebrow.

She made a face, looking away from him; slowly she dragged her gaze across to meet his eye. "There were no fireworks," she admitted.

Connor laughed slightly. "You always say that. Have you ever felt fireworks? Would you even know them if you did?"

"Of course I have!" she said defensively.

"Oh yeah?" he asked. He sat up so that he could look at her better, curious now. "With who?"

"That's… a secret," Gisela answered carefully, raising her nose.

"I don't believe you," he teased.

She looked affronted. "I'm not lying! I've felt the fireworks, I know exactly what they're like."

"So you say, but who was the guy?" he asked again.

"Not telling."

"Do I know him?" Connor pried. "Come on, give me something here."

"Oh, you might," she conceded.

"Why aren't you dating him?" he questioned her. He was grinning, but beneath the teasing, he really did want to know.

Gisela looked down slightly. "I guess he didn't feel the fireworks too. It's not always mutual, you know."

"Hm." At that Connor sobered a bit, looking thoughtful. After a moment, he stood up. "I need to go work on some stuff before bed. 'Night, Gi."

"'Night," she answered, watching him go up the stairs.

As he climbed up to his room, Connor thought about the night he'd finally gotten to kiss Tanya. After liking her for so long, he had thought it would be perfect, but then it just – wasn't. A few days later they had talked about it, and he had been surprised to realize that he was relieved she felt the same: no fireworks. Maybe they should just be friends.

He tried to sit and work on homework for the next couple of hours, but his focus just got worse and worse as time wore on. His mind kept swinging back to Gisela's mystery fireworks man – who had it been? Mentally he ran over the list of boys he knew she'd gone out with. It obviously wasn't Alec, and it hadn't been Andre. Who else was there, even? Was it someone back in Cordoba?

Finally, far too antsy to sit still or go to bed, Connor got up and changed his jeans for a pair of shorts and then climbed up to his spy room to have a run on the treadmill. A little exercise would, hopefully, clear his head and wear him out enough for sleep.

Headphones on and music playing, he wasn't really sure how long he'd been running when Gisela appeared in front of him. He jumped, tearing off his headphones and stopping the treadmill. Stumbling off, he put a hand on his chest, taking a deep breath. "Damn, Gi, don't sneak up like that."

She cringed. "I'm sorry! I tried to move slowly so you wouldn't be too startled!"

"It's all right," he sighed, catching his breath. Noticing her pyjamas, he asked, "Why are you still up?"

"I could hear you running from downstairs. I came up to see if you were okay. Normally you don't stay up this late, or run for that long, unless something's bothering you."

For a brief moment he frowned at her slightly, wondering if she was always that observant. "I'm fine," he answered slowly.

Furrowing her brow, Gisela ducked to one side to look him in the eye. "Are you sure?" she asked, unconvinced.

"Yes!" Connor insisted, looking away from her again. He went over to the nearest desk, plucking at his sweaty t-shirt, and grabbed a water bottle.

She followed him, arms crossed. "I don't believe you. Is it something I said earlier?"

"No," he said immediately, still not looking at her. He put the water bottle down and wiped his mouth on his arm as she ducked back into his view.

"Say that again," she challenged him, frowning.

"No!" he repeated. Ed had taught him how to withstand an interrogation.

"You're lying!" she announced. "You may think you know how to keep secrets, but you've still got tells, Heath. I know you inside and out. The truth this time: was it something I said?"

He tried to look away, irritated that she could get under his skin like this, but she moved to stay in his gaze. "No," he said a third time, twisting his mouth. "Not exactly."

"Hah." She straightened up and crossed her arms. "I knew there was something. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," he told her, gritting his teeth.

"Too late for that," she scoffed. Rocking back on her heels, she watched him thoughtfully for a moment before an idea struck her. "Are you still trying to figure out who I felt fireworks with?"

"No," Connor replied, grouchy now, but he knew he wasn't even doing a good job of lying any more. If there was anyone in the world who could wear him down, it was Gisela. He was thankful they were on the same side.

"Oh my god!" Gisela threw her hands in the air. "I can't believe you!"

"Well when you keep secrets from me, of course I'm gonna get curious!" he defended, spreading his arms.

"Not that!" she said. "The fact that you haven't figured it out! You're a smart guy, Connor, and you know basically everything about me. I would've thought you could piece it together by now."

"I know it wasn't Andre or Alec, you mentioned specifically that you hadn't felt it with them. You're the one who dumped Ross, and you and Joaquin never kissed." He listed them off one by one on his fingers. "You only went on a single pity date with Eric, and only one with Louis, too, because he was a creep as soon as he had you alone."

"You're only missing one," she said, crossing her arms again and looking at him expectantly.

"I don't know! I don't know and it's really ticking me off!" he admitted.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because-" he stalled, wracking his brains for a good answer. "Because-"

She watched his face for a moment, emotions flickering across it as he searched for words. "I can't even believe you're not doing this on purpose. There's only one other person I've kissed, Connor."

It took a moment for what she'd said to settle into his brain, but as he realized the way she used the word 'kissed' instead of 'gone out with' something clicked. He looked up at her, not even getting the chance to fully register shock on his face before she kissed him.

Connor's eyebrows rose high as Gisela pulled away from him, settling back down on her feet from her tiptoes. "You're unbelievable," she muttered.

"You always acted like it was no big deal, when we- when we kissed," he exclaimed, a little haltingly.

"Well so did you!" she retorted, seeming more annoyed than anything else. "But apparently it was, if the thought of me being into someone else bothers you so much!"

He paused, expression beginning to soften. "Gisela, I- I think I've been lying to myself about what fireworks feel like for a little while now," he confessed.

"Well…" she started, unsure where to go from there; but he leaned in and cut her off before she had to worry about it.

Connor and Gisela had kissed a total of ten times. And then eleven. And then twelve. Then thirteen.

And then, Connor stopped counting.


End file.
